I'll Be There For You
by justanoutlaw
Summary: Robin is waiting for the birth of his godson when he somehow ends up assisting a stranger with her own labor.
1. Chapter 1

Robin knew he wasn't normal, but this had to seal the deal. Normal people didn't do this. They didn't show up at the hospital the day their ex-wife went into labor with the child they would be raising with their new spouse. Yet, there he was, sitting in the waiting room. Mulan had texted him that Marian had gone into labor and he rushed over. Despite being divorced for 3 years, they were still friends. Maybe it helped that things had ended amicably. Robin realized that while he loved Marian, he wasn't in love with her and Marian had come out as a lesbian.

Even the best of friends probably wouldn't have showed up, but there he was. Mulan and Marian told him it could take a while, so he settled in the waiting room. Some people might think that the baby was supposed to be theirs, but he didn't look at it like that. He and Marian had never discussed children, it wasn't in the cards for them. He was happy for her and Mulan. They'd make great mothers, and he'd help them in any way he could.

The waiting room was empty, so all Robin had for company was the soccer game on T.V. American teams could not hold a candle to the ones back in England (where it was properly called football, but he had given up that argument a long time ago), but he was still rooting for the college teams. Given that he had gone to Syracuse and they were playing, he glommed onto them.

"Come on!" He exclaimed when they missed a clear shot. "The goalie's incompetent, you totally had it!"

"Syracuse fan?" A feminine voice from behind him asked.

He turned to find a shorter woman, clearly in the later stages of pregnancy standing there. Her dark hair was thrown back in a messy bun and she was massaging her belly. "Yeah."

"God, they suck."

Robin's eyebrows knitted together. "You have to be kidding me."

The woman struggled as she found a way to sit on the couch. Robin would've offered to help her, but she had a determined look on her face. "You can see that Stanford is clearly kicking their ass."

"Yeah, they got lucky, once. Syracuse ranks above their pretentious asses."

"I'll have you know I went to that pretentious ass school."

"So, you're biased."

"Something tells me you are with Syracuse as well."

Before Robin could respond, the woman let out a loud moan, clutching onto her stomach. Robin jumped out of his seat and hurried over to her, helping her back up.

"Are you in labor?"

"No, I just showed up here for fun," she clutched down further on her stomach. "Yes, I'm in labor."

"Is your husband getting a doctor?"

"No husband, just me."

"Oh." Robin frowned. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine, it's…" She let out another scream. "I just need to see a doctor."

"Come with me." He noticed the bag she had abandoned on the ground and picked it up. "We'll get you signed in."

Robin didn't realize what he was doing until they made it to the desk and the woman asked for her name. It was only then it dawned on him that he had nothing to do with her, yet a part of him couldn't let her go through it by herself.

"Regina," the pregnant woman replied, fixating on her breathing. "Regina Mills."

Regina didn't realize that this strange man was still with her, until long after they had gotten her situated in her own room. The contractions had slowed for the time being, but this was really it, she was going to have this baby.

"Can you hand me my phone, please?" She asked. "It's in the front pocket of my purse."

The man nodded and handed over her cell. Going through her contacts, she scrolled right past Daniel's name and instead called her mother.

"Cora Mills, how can I help you?"

"Mother, it's me."

"Is everything alright?"

"I'm in labor."

There was a pause. "Oh."

"Oh? Are you going to come?"

"Is he there?"

Regina resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "No, Mother. I told you, he wants nothing to do with me or this baby."

"Maybe if you had actually accepted Leopold's hand in marriage…"

"I don't want to go into this with you. What's done is done and I'm having Daniel's baby. You're the only family I have, are you going to come or not?"

"I have a meeting on the Upper West Side in a half hour, it controls the future of our entire fall line. If I miss it, it will mess everything up."

Regina bit her lip, looking up at the ceiling. "So, you're not coming?"

"If it were a better time…and perhaps a better father…"

"Or maybe for once in my life, you could support a choice I made!"

The line went dead and Regina sighed, ending the call. She looked up at the man in front of her, who looked confused.

"She's not much of a phone person."

"I can tell. So, this Daniel…he's the father?"

Regina went back to rubbing her stomach. "Yup."

"And he's not coming?"

"Does it look like he's here?"

"Did you even give him a chance? If someone was having my baby, I'd want to know."

Regina rolled her eyes. "Did I ask for your views on fatherhood? No."

The man frowned and Regina realized that she had maybe crossed a line. "Maybe I should go."

"Yeah," Regina said, despite meaning the opposite. "Maybe you should."

He started walking out the door and Regina collapsed against the pillows, folding her arms over her chest. She could practically hear her mother's voice.

Nice job, Regina. You chased another one away.

The man paused at the door, before turning around. "You want to know what Stanford's problem is? They let the players run the team."

Regina's mouth dropped open. "That is so not true!"

"Yes, it is." He made his way back over and adjusted the pillow beneath her.

She narrowed her eyes. "What's your name, anyway?"

"Robin."

"What brings you to the hospital, Robin?"

"You won't tell me your story, why should I tell you mine?"

"Because I'm in labor and need a distraction."

Robin chuckled, plopping down in the chair besides her bed. "Fair enough. My ex and her new wife are having a baby. Right down the hall."

"And you wanted to be here for that?"

"We're all good friends. As weird as that sounds."

"Very weird. I don't think I'd want anything to do with any of my exes."

Robin shrugged. "I'm not normal."

"So, I've noticed, you've helped a complete stranger prepare for her own labor."

"I've told you mine, you tell me yours."

Regina unfolded her arms, allowing them to fall back to her bump. "I met the father when I decided to pick up horseback riding again. We fell for each other, but we were from different worlds. I found out I was pregnant and my mom scared him off."

Robin frowned. "And he just listened?"

"I mean, he's tried to talk to me since…but he walked away." Regina could feel Robin's eyes on her. "Don't look at me like that."

"Look, I just met you, so I don't know this Daniel guy…but maybe he feels he made a mistake."

"Maybe." Regina looked down at her stomach. "But I can do this on my own, if he really wants to be here, he'll come."

"How can he, if he doesn't know?"

Regina had spent the last 8 months with her mother in her ear, telling her that this was what was best. She would have the baby and be a single mother. That was the better alternative than raising him alongside a man that didn't want to be there. Daniel had tried calling, but Cora had convinced her that they were better off alone. In a way, it was what her mother felt she deserved for refusing to marry Leopold-the wealthy business man that had tried to woo Regina many times.

Now, she was finally getting advice from someone outside her circle. A person who probably hadn't been raised with elitist parents, a man at that. He knew how a non-deadbeat dad would feel. Regina knew Daniel, she had fallen in love with him once. He wasn't a deadbeat…was he?

"Maybe, but it's too late now," Regina murmured. "I haven't heard from him since I was 6 months along. He's probably long moved on by now."

"Maybe…"

Robin couldn't finish his thought, before Regina was hit by another contraction. She was so focused on the pain and moaning, that until it passed, she didn't realize that Robin had slipped his hand through her own.

Regina was convinced that Robin would leave as soon as things progressed, but to her surprise, he didn't leave her side. Occasionally he'd get texts from his ex's new wife about the progress of their own labor, but it seemed that things had stalled. He vowed to be with Regina through the long haul. He held her hand as she contracted, distracted her from the pain with debates over college soccer and told her that she would be a good mom, even if her taste in teams sucked.

Robin was the one that ran to get the doctor when her water broke and stayed by her side when they announced the baby was crowning. A part of her knew that maybe she should insist he leave, but a bigger part of her didn't want to. She liked having him by her side. He had made the entire thing actually bearable.

He held her hand and reminded her to breathe through every push. After a while, it didn't seem weird anymore. Robin was like her weird doula, one she hadn't asked for but also one that she wouldn't trade for the entire world.

After 6 grueling hours of labor, the cries of a baby could be heard, followed by the declaration that it was a boy. The tiny baby was placed on her chest and she stared down at him in awe, stroking his chubby, sticky cheek. Regina looked up at Robin, who was beaming down at the baby with tears in his eyes.

It wasn't until the baby was cleaned off and she had delivered the placenta, the little one back in her arms, that Robin got the text that Marian had also given birth. He looked down at Regina, almost unsure.

"The hard part is over," she said, nuzzling her son to her chest. "Go, be with them."

Robin smiled, reaching down to touch the baby's hat. "I'll come back as soon as I can."

"You don't have to, really. Robin, you've done more than enough."

"No one should ever go through something like this alone."

Regina wasn't sure if it was the hormones or the excitement of the day, but when Robin looked down at her, she felt her stomach flutter. He kissed her cheek before exiting the room and Regina returned her eyes to the baby in her arms.

"I only know one person fit to name you after," she whispered. "My father, Henry. He was always so good to me."

As she stared down at her son, she realized that she had never loved somebody so much. This was the greatest gift she had ever received and she couldn't imagine how she had lived her life without him. If she felt that way, she couldn't rob someone else of that chance.

"Excuse me," she said when the nurse walked past her. "Would you be able to make a call for me?"

Robin walked into Marian's room, smiling at the scene in front of him. Marian looked as exhausted as Regina had, but was beaming just as much. Mulan was perched beside her, both staring down at the bundle in Marian's arms.

"Well, you two did it," he said. They looked up, grinning and motioning for him to come over. "He's amazing."

"Isn't he, though?" Marian whispered.

"He looks just like Marian," Mulan said. "And a bit like Specimen 5204."

Robin chuckled, cradling his hand behind Marian's that held up the baby's head.

"Does he have a name?" He asked.

"Roland, Roland Zhou Dubois-Fa."

"That's perfect."

"Where were you, anyway?" Mulan asked. "I poked my head in the waiting room when I went to get Marian some more ice chips and you were nowhere to be found."

"I was uh…" Robin scratched the back of his neck, realizing how crazy it sounded. "I was helping someone deliver a baby."

Marian and Mulan exchanged a look, before cracking up. Robin tilted his head back, not blaming them for not believing him.

"I'm serious."

Marian stopped laughing, tilting her own head. "You mean you played doctor?"

"It's a long story, but I started bickering with this woman in the waiting room and she went into labor and one thing lead to another and I just stayed with her."

"Was she cute?"

Robin rolled her eyes. "She just had a baby."

"I'm assuming if you stayed with her, the father didn't," Mulan pointed out.

"That's another long story."

"My point is, these things don't just happen, you know."

Robin did know. He tried to fight it off during his visit with the newly grown Dubois-Fa family, but he couldn't shake it off. So when it was clear that Marian needed some rest, he headed down to the giftshop and got some balloons, along with a bouquet of blue tulips. He carried them back up to Regina's room and went to knock on the door, when he found it was already slightly ajar. Regina was already sitting up in bed, a man sitting beside her. Robin paused, a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"So, this is him, huh?" The man asked.

Regina rolled her eyes. "No, Daniel, this is a loaner."

Daniel chuckled. "I was surprised you called. I didn't think you wanted me around."

"To be fair, you told me that you didn't want to be."

"In the early days, I was scared." He sighed. "I'm sorry, Regina. I shouldn't have said that. Your mother isn't going to stop how much I love this baby, or you."

Robin felt his heart sink a little in his chest, especially when he saw Regina give Daniel a small smile.

"I know," she whispered.

Daniel placed his hand on her back. "I'm sorry you had to go through this alone."

"I wasn't alone. I had a doctor, a nurse and a…" Regina trailed off, her smile growing wider. "A helper guy." She paused, looking over at Daniel. "Did you see who won the game?"

"Syracuse, by ten." He scoffed, rolling his eyes. "They suck."

Regina shrugged. "They're not so bad,"

Robin took a step back from the door, debating his options. He could walk in and deliver the presents, but he also knew that could possibly cause drama. The fact was, Daniel, Regina and the baby were a family. They needed to work on that, without him messing things up. Besides, it wasn't like they had known each other forever.

He set the flowers down by the door and tied the stork balloon to the door, before turning and walking away.


	2. Chapter 2

There were days that Regina wondered if she made a mistake by giving Henry the middle name Daniel. They had only just gotten back together the day of his birth and it was a choice made out of pure emotions. She had figured it was a compromise, as she was too skittish to give him Daniel's last name. This way, Henry would always have a piece of his father, even if her and Daniel didn't work out.

By the time Henry turned 2, Regina was glad she did. A riding accident had placed Daniel in a coma 6 months prior and eventually, his family made the choice to pull the plug. There was no brain activity, no signs of him coming back. It was a choice that Regina supported, but it didn't mean that it didn't hurt any less.

She spent the next year in mourning, kicking herself for all the lost time. If she had answered his calls earlier on in the pregnancy, if she hadn't let Cora get in her head. There were so many what-ifs and so few answers to what they would've been like. Now, there was no future for the three of them. The day Henry was born, she felt like she gained two family members. After the accident, she lost one.

Eventually, Regina began seeing a therapist. He helped her realize that there was no sense in wondering what could've been. She couldn't change the past, she could only shape her and Henry's futures. That included being the best mom she possibly could and that meant making herself happy too. After all, Henry would pick up if his own mother wasn't happy.

Regina began to reinvent her life after that. She quit her mother's company and struck out on her own, getting a job with an old friend that she hadn't spoken to in ages. Regina realized she was so much happier working for Mal, in an industry that focused on helping others instead of simply fashion. She did more spontaneous things with Henry, finding herself enjoying his childhood. There were trips to Coney Island and driving to the country side in the fall to see the leaves change.

One of Regina's favorite traditions was something much simpler. Every Saturday morning, they'd head to Central Park. The two would ignore the tourists and play until lunchtime. Sometimes they'd pack picnics, on special occasions, they'd get hot dogs from the street vendor. These were the moments Regina wanted to remember when Henry was in his teens and hating the world. She wanted to be able to think of the smile on his face, mustard surrounding it after taking a big bite as he talked about all the fun they had in the park together.

The Saturday following his 5th birthday, they followed through and went to the park. As Henry got older, he tended to drift towards the Diana Ross playground and mess around with other kids. That day was no exception, so Regina settled onto a bench, watching him play. It didn't take long for him to find a friend around his age. The other boy had curly brown hair and obvious dimples, even from far away. Henry pulled out identical wooden swords from his backpack and offered one to his new friend, who graciously accepted. The two began running around, beaming from ear to ear.

"I swear, Roland would make friends on Mars," the man beside Regina piped up and she only just realized he was there.

Regina didn't look away at first, her eyes fixated on her son. "It gives me hope for when Henry starts kindergarten next week," she admitted.

"I think it's a hell of a lot easier at that age, especially for boys. So little drama."

Regina laughed and looked up at the mystery man, only to realize he was no stranger at all. She locked eyes with the man she hadn't seen in 5 years, she hadn't thought about him past the initial day Henry was born.

Robin.

"Oh my God," she whispered. "It can't be."

Robin tilted his head and then it seemed to click in his eyes. "Regina?"

"Robin."

A smile spread across his face and she could feel it happening to herself. She didn't know what to say, until the first thought came to mind. "You never came back."

Robin's face turned puzzled for a moment and then realization washed over it. "I did, but when I walked up to the room, your boyfriend was there."

"Oh."

"Yeah, I left balloons and flowers."

"So those were from you." Regina felt her smile growing. "I can't believe after all these years…"

"Who would've thought?"

"Is that your son?" She asked, nodding over to Roland.

"No, my godson, actually. He was the baby being born that day…"

"Your ex-wife," Regina remembered, nodding. "How are she and her new wife doing?"

"Pretty good, crazed with the 5-year-old, so I offered to take him off their hands today."

"Well, aren't you godfather of the year?"

Robin chuckled. "And how is your boyfriend? Daniel, I think I remember his name was."

Regina paused, feeling her smile lessen a bit. "He passed away, three years ago."

"Oh, Regina, I'm…"

"It's fine," she waved him off. "It took me time, but I've adjusted to it. Both me and Henry have."

"I'm glad he showed up that day, regardless of how little time you had with him."

Regina looked back at Henry, before returning her gaze to Robin. "Me too. You know, if it wasn't for you that day, I probably wouldn't have."

"Me?"

"My entire pregnancy, I had my mom in my ear. She convinced me I was better off doing it alone, but having you there, hearing your side of things…you're the reason I asked the hospital to call Daniel that day."

Robin nodded, smirking a bit. "Well, I'm glad I was right."

Regina rolled her eyes. "About Daniel. Your team choice still sucks,"

"Oh hush. They won that day, if I recall."

"Yeah, yeah."

Regina pushed her hair behind her ears and felt Robin's eyes still on her.

"You cut your hair," he mused. "It was longer that day."

"Oh yeah, did it around the time Henry started grabbing onto things. I'd rather him not use it as a pull toy."

Robin chuckled. "I feel you. My cross was Roland's favorite toy for months when he was a baby."

"What have you been up to in the past five years?"

"Nothing spectacular, really. Finally got the guts to open my own gym."

"Really?"

"Yeah, we're in the second year, so I'm not holding out hope, but we'll see. What about you?"

"My life is basically Henry and work these days, trying to find a healthy balance of both."

"As any good mother would."

The two sat there for the next few hours, catching up as they watched the boys play. Eventually, Henry and Roland came over, complaining of hunger pains so they took the boys to a nearby diner where they would have more of an excuse to talk. Roland and Henry were oblivious to the grownups as they ate their chicken fingers and talked about superheroes. Regina hadn't even realized how much time had passed until Robin got a text from Marian and Mulan.

"Uh oh, bud. Afraid your moms want you home," he said.

Roland groaned. "Do we have to go?"

"Yes, we do. But from what Regina and I figured out, you and Henry will be going to the same school starting next week."

That clearly cheered the boys up enough. They walked outside and Robin hailed a cab, putting Roland in it. He turned to Regina, holding out a business card.

"I'd rather not have to wait another 5 years before seeing you again."

Regina grinned, accepting it from him. "Yeah…something tells me I don't either."

After all, these things don't just happen.


End file.
